July 1st, 2004

Call for donations

Free Software "...should be seen, then, as more than just a
different kind of product. It is a different kind of process for
building, maintaining and changing the rules that govern
information flows." - according to the United Nations.

An institution working for Free Software in Europe is the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE). Its success is well known: "The
Free Software Foundation does a great job - for example by protecting
the rights of Free Software developers. Therefore we support the
FSFE", says Paul Salazar, director of marketing for the GNU/Linux
Distributor Red Hat in Europe, the middle East and Africa. He is not
alone with this positive view.

Horst Nebgen, Vice President, Novell, Central Europe and
Managing Director, Novell, Germany explains: "Novell released the
installation and configuration tool "YAST" (yet another setup tool)
under the GPL (GNU General Public License), to make it accessible for
every developer. The GPL - and therefore the FSFE[/US] by which it is
published, maintained and protected - guarantees transparency and
platform independence, which assures that through the ability of Free
Software to innovate, the already proverbial stability, security and
broad network support of [GNU/]Linux continue to evolve and
advance. Therefore, for Novell, the Free Software Foundation Europe is
an important partner on its way into the future."

"We are of course very happy about this praise", says Georg
Greve, President of the FSFE. "What makes this public
appreciation particularly significant is that the FSFE never
spared with criticism of these very companies when it seemed
necessary. Obviously the job done by the FSFE is appreciated
even if we even if we have to speak out quite clearly at
times. This independence from politics, industry and other
associations is a prerequisite for our present successes and the
basis for our continued work."

The projects of the FSFE are multifaceted: participation in the
German government's delegation at the "World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS)", consulting with the European Union
during the establishment of the framework programmes,
participation in AGNULA, a project to build a fully Free
Software distribution for professional musicians and multimedia
authors and also the maintenance and advancement of the GNU
General Public License (GPL). This diversity costs a lot of
money, including: travel around the world, information production,
marketing materials and personnel.

The FSFE Coordinator for Germany, Bernhard Reiter, illustrates
the background: "We want to pursue our projects at the highest
level. Moreover, we observe an increasing demand for support of
the public: we are asked to give speeches and to consult on
licensing Free Software. We would like to do all of this. However,
without funding our hands are
tied."